Significant Incidents of Political Violence Against Americans 1988

All eight of the deaths related to the
simultaneous attacks occurred at the Acropole
Hotel, as did most of the injuries. Among the dead
was a Sudanese Armed Forces Brigidier General
assigned to the engineer corps, Ibrahim Abd AI-
Majid. Four Britons who lost their lives were
identified as relief workers Chris and Clare Rolfe,
and their children Thomas, aged 3, and Louise, aged
1. Another'British woman and a second Sudanese
citizen were also killed. All were eating dinner at
the time of the attack.
Three Americans, two women and one man,
were listed among the casualties resulting from the
explosion. The two women were contract USAID
employees on TDY to Khartoum, and the remaining
injury was sustained by a U.S. private citizen visiting
Sudan. A Canadian husband and wife team
working for USAID under contract were also
injured. All received minor cuts and abrasions.
Within minutes after the attack on the
Acropole Hotel, Hassan Qasim Nimr and one
accomplice began firing automatic weapons as they
approached the entrance to the Sudan Club,
seriously wounding at least one Sudanese. This,
coupled with the previous explosion down the street
at the Acropole Hotel, alerted patrons inside that
something was wrong. By the time the two
terrorists had reached the entrance to the Club,
most of the 15--20 guests had escaped out the back
and through the windows. (Many of the injuries
related to the Sudan Club attack were actually
sustained as people were attempting to escape.) The
pair burst into the club and entered the bar area,
fortunately bypassing the adjacent movie room
where most of the remaining people were located.
They lobbed grenades, hitting a bar chair that
subsequently exploded, and they strafed the area
with submachinegun fire. One terrorist was
Both photographs
indicate the location
where the bomb
exploded.
•
~ .,~ .It;'t,
apprehended at the scene by a local security guard
who observed the attack. The other was arrested
within a half hour as he attempted to return to his
apartment.
Further developments over the following
week led to the arrest of the additional two members
of the terrorist cell who were involved with the
logistical planning of the attacks and the discovery
ofan arms cache buried in the woods near the Hilton
Hotel in Khartoum. It was determined that the five
were members of the ANO. During the trial, they
admitted to having been trained in Lebanon. They
told the court that their action was aimed at
Western interests. Twenty-five-year-old Hassan
18